Moscow Court Puts Top Opposition Leader Under House Arrest

A Moscow court has ordered prominent opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov to be placed under house arrest for allegedly inciting mass disorder.

Udaltsov must stay inside his Moscow apartment for the next two months and is forbidden from using the telephone or Internet. He cannot have contact with anyone except his family, lawyers, or government investigators.

Udaltsov was banned from leaving Moscow last year. Prosecutors allege he had traveled outside the Russian capital to organize anti-government rallies.

Udaltsov is the leader of the radical opposition group Left Front. The government says he appeared at rallies and urged his followers to use violence. A television documentary by a pro-Kremlin station also showed what it says was Udaltsov meeting with a politician in Georgia to raise money.

Udaltsov called the TV footage a sham and says all charges against him are lies.

Human rights activists say they are increasingly concerned about the Kremlin's growing suppression of the opposition.